New authorities maps present practically the entire West is in drought and it isn’t even summer season yet: “This is unprecedented”

In an unprecedented move, Southern California officials declared a water scarcity emergency and requested roughly 6 million residents to restrict all out of doors watering to just as soon as a week.  

"We knew climate change would stress our water supplies and we've been getting ready for it however we did not know it would happen this quick," mentioned Gloria Gray, chairwoman of the Metropolitan Water District Board of Directors.  

The most recent government maps present nearly all of the West is in drought, and 95% of California is suffering extreme or excessive drought.

"This is actual. That is serious. That is unprecedented," stated Adel Hagekhalil, general supervisor for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.  

California isn't alone as reservoirs across the West are draining.  

Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the nation shaped by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, wants a new pump to ensure water can move to Las Vegas. 

"The issue with climate change is that it takes all of the historic patterns and sort of shifts them," NASA scientist Dr. JT Reager informed CBS News' Ben Tracy. 

Reager said the West is in a 22-year megadrought, as local weather change makes it hotter and drier. 

"We're just beginning to see the dominoes fall. It's drier, we're beginning to see less water in our reservoirs, and we've got fires, and in California, there's simply this series of penalties that we anticipate," mentioned Reager.